Profile-driven response to communication events

ABSTRACT

A method includes storing a setting in a profile of a wireless device to cause an automatic message response to incoming calls. When the profile is set as the active profile and an incoming call is received, an automatic response is provided to the incoming call in accordance with the setting.

FIELD

[0001] The invention relates to communications, and, more particularly,to automatic response to communication events.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless telephones are popular, ubiquitous devices. It is nowpossible to make and receive phone calls from almost any place in theworld. Communication is even possible from remote and undeveloped areasusing wireless satellite telephones. Herein, the term wireless telephonerefers to any device capable of transmitting and receiving voice and/ordata (non-voice) information to and from a network without the use ofwires, cables, or other tangible transmission media. So called cellulartelephones are a common example of wireless phones.

[0003] Wireless telephones and the networks by which they communicateinclude analog mobile phone service (AMPS), and so-called secondgeneration (2G) and third-generation (3G) devices that operate accordingto various communication technologies, including circuit switching,packet switching, wireless local area network (LAN) protocols, codedivision multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), spread-spectrum, global systemfor mobile communications (GSM), high-speed circuit-switched data(HCSD), general packet radio system (GPRS), enhanced data GSMenvironment (EDGE), and universal mobile telecommunications service(UMTS). Of course, these are only examples, and other technologies maybe employed in wireless communication as well.

[0004] Herein, the term ‘wireless device’ is meant to include wirelesstelephones (including cellular, mobile, and satellite telephones), andalso to include a variety of other wireless devices, including wirelessweb-access telephones, automobile, laptop, and desktop computers thatcommunicate wirelessly, and wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs).In general, the term ‘wireless device’ refers to any device withwireless communication capabilities.

[0005] Many companies produce wireless telephones and other wirelessdevices. Among the more well-known producers are Nokia®, Ericsson®,Motorola®, Panasonic®, Palm® Computer, and Handspring®. A variety ofproducers also provide wireless devices comprising versions of theMicrosoft® Windows® operating software.

[0006] Along with the ubiquity of wireless telephones come drawbacks.One drawback is that public and private places are now prone tointerruption by incoming calls to wireless phones. In certain places,such as movie theatres and meeting rooms, such interruptions may beunwelcome.

[0007] One solution to this problem is described in U.S. patentapplication No. ______, entitled System and Method for Providing anAutomatic Response to a Telephone Call. A voice or text response is sentto the caller without requiring the user of the telephone to answer thecall. The user may perform an action (such as pressing a button on thetelephone) to initiate response, or the telephone and/or network mayautomatically (without user intervention) initiate response.

[0008] Modern wireless telephones may be configured with profiles tocontrol the behavior of the telephone in different situations. As usedherein, the term “profile” refers to data, stored in an electronicmemory of the telephone, telephone peripheral device, or the network,which may be accessed to determine the behavior of a wireless telephone.One or more profiles may be available for the phone, such as Normal,Silent, and Meeting. The ‘active’ profile is the profile selected fromamong the available profiles to control the phone's behavior. Forexample, a Meeting profile may include settings to control the manner inwhich a telephone behaves upon receiving an incoming call (vibrate orring, ring tone, number of rings before going to voice mail, etc.). Whenthe “Meeting” profile is selected, the phone may vibrate instead ofringing upon receiving an incoming call, and may go to voice mail aftera single ring.

[0009] Profiles are convenient, effective, and well understood by theusers of wireless telephones. The response of wireless phones toincoming calls or other communication events could thus benefit from theexpanded use of profiles.

SUMMARY

[0010] In one embodiment, a profile of a wireless device includes asetting to cause an automatic message response to incoming calls. Whenthe profile is set as the active profile and an incoming call isreceived, an automatic response is provided to the incoming call inaccordance with the setting.

[0011] In another embodiment, a wireless device is used to select anactive profile. In response to selection of the active profile,signaling occurs between the wireless device and a network by which thewireless device communicates. The network is configured according to atleast one setting of the active profile to automatically provide aresponse message to callers of the wireless device.

[0012] In another embodiment, a wireless communication network includesfunctionality to provide at least one of SMS, EMS, and MMS messages. Thenetwork includes at least one setting for a wireless device thatcommunicates by way of the network. The setting causes the network toautomatically respond to callers of the wireless device with a responsemessage. The network includes logic to alter the setting in accordancewith changes to an active profile of the wireless device.

FIGURES

[0013] The invention may be better understood with reference to thefollowing figures in light of the accompanying description. The presentinvention, however, is limited only by the scope of the claims at theconcluding portion of the specification.

[0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a profile.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method ofconfiguring the response of a wireless device to incoming calls.

[0016]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network embodiment including actsof a method embodiment to reconfigure network settings.

[0017]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a network embodiment including actsof a method embodiment to respond to an incoming call.

[0018]FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network embodiment including actsof a method embodiment to respond to an incoming call.

[0019]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a wirelesstelephone.

[0020]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method toautomatically respond to incoming calls.

[0021]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method toautomatically respond to incoming calls.

DESCRIPTION

[0022] In the following description, numerous references to “oneembodiment” or “an embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the sameembodiment, although they may. In the figures, like numbers refer tolike elements.

[0023]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a profile102. The profile 102 may be stored in the memory of a wireless device,and/or in a memory of the network by which the wireless devicecommunicates. The profile includes settings to control the manner inwhich the device responds to incoming calls. A setting is anyinformation relating to the device. For example, settings may includering options 104 such as silent, ring once, and beep once. Settings mayalso include the ring tone 106, such as ring-ring, low, ‘mosquito’,‘bee’, ‘city bird’, and other popular tones or tunes. Settings may alsoinclude the ring volume 108, whether the device should vibrate or not110 and the tone 112 to use to alert to the presence of new messages. Ofcourse, additional and/or different settings are possible in otherembodiments.

[0024] The profile may further comprise settings to determine theresponse behavior to incoming calls. One setting 114 may determinewhether to automatically respond to incoming calls with a message.Another setting 116 may determine a particular message to respond with.Yet another setting 117 may determine the technique for communicatingthe response message.

[0025] The profile may comprise a setting 118 to determine whether torespond with a particular message depending upon the date and/or time ofday. An electronic calendar may be applied to facilitate this process.Another setting 120 may determine whether to respond with a particularmessage depending upon the location of the device. Again, a calendar maybe applied to facilitate this process.

[0026] Another setting 122 may determine whether to respond with aparticular message according to the caller's identity. An addressbook/contact list may be applied to facilitate this process.

[0027] The profile embodiment 102 of FIG. 1 defines the phone's responsebehavior to incoming calls as follows: ring once at low volume (volumelevel=1) with the ‘bee’ tone, don't vibrate, and automatically respondto the caller with the message “I'm in a meeting right now. Please callback.” The messaging technique is Short Messaging Service (SMS). Themessage is always the same and is not specific to the time, date, orlocation of the phone, nor is the message specific to the caller's id.

[0028] SMS, otherwise known as text messaging, mobile messaging, oralphanumeric paging, allows for the communication of short text andnumeric messages to and from wireless devices, as well as to and frompublic SMS messaging gateways on the Internet. A detailed description ofSMS is available as part of the GSM standard.

[0029] Another messaging technique that may be specified in the profileis Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). EMS supports the capabilities ofSMS to communicate short text and numeric messages, but also includescapabilities for the communication of other types of data, includingsound, animation, graphics, and additional text-formatting capabilities.Yet another messaging technique that may be specified in the profile isMultimedia Messaging Service (MMS). MMS provides for the communicationof video and other advanced multimedia formats.

[0030] The user of the device may select an active profile from amongthe phone's profiles, and by doing so may determine the phone's (or thenetwork's) response behavior to incoming calls. Profiles may be named,and in one embodiment the user may select the active profile from amongavailable profiles using the keypad and display. Common names forprofiles include Normal, Silent, Meeting, Outdoor, and Pager.

[0031] The response message may be automatically transmitted by thewireless device, or by the network by which the wireless devicecommunicates. For example, a wireless phone may automatically respond toincoming calls with the SMS message “I'm in a meeting right now. Pleasecall back.” (refer to the discussion of FIG. 1). Alternatively, thenetwork may intercept the incoming call to the phone and provide theresponse message to the caller. Thus, in the preceding example, the SMSmessage may be transmitted to the caller by the network without everalerting the phone of the incoming call. Selection of an active profilemay thus result in the reconfiguration of a network setting, thusaffecting the response message to the caller. As another example,selection of an active profile may select the voice mail prompt that acaller hears when the call goes to voice mail.

[0032] The caller's id (for example, their phone number and/or IPaddress) may be recorded in a call log or other record, so that thecalled party is aware of who called and when, and may return the call ata convenient time. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of amethod of configuring the response of a wireless device to incomingcalls. The selection of an active profile at 202 results in an exchangeof signals at 204 between the wireless device and the devices of thenetwork over which the wireless device communicates. At 206 the voicemail response to incoming calls to the wireless device is selectedaccording to the active profile. For example, changing the currentlyactive profile from “Silent” to “Meeting” may result in signalingbetween the wireless device and the network, such that at 208 the voicemail response that callers hear is changed from “I am unavailable.Please call back later”, to “I can't take your call right now becauseI'm in a meeting.” A call at 210 to the wireless device results intransmission of the voice mail response to the caller at 212.

[0033] Alterations to the settings of the active profile (henceforth,“profile settings”) may also result in an exchange of signals betweenthe wireless device and the devices of the network over which thewireless device communicates. Such exchange of signals may affect atleast one setting of the network (henceforth, “network settings”). Thenetwork may comprise logic to affect one or more network settings forthe wireless device in accordance with changes to active profilesettings of the wireless device. Such logic may comprise any set ofinstruction signals and/or data applied to control processes of thenetwork. Network logic may be embodied in software, hardware, firmware,and/or combinations thereof.

[0034]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network including acts of a methodto reconfigure network settings. The network and the acts illustratedare merely possible embodiments. Base station controllers (BSC) 302, 304include antennae 306, 308 respectively to receive signals from wirelessdevices 312, 310. The BSCs 302, 304 are coupled to a mobile switchingcenter (MSC) 316 network element that is responsible, among otherthings, for routing calls to their appropriate destination. Herein, theterm “network element” refers to any one or more devices of acommunication network. The MSC 316 is coupled to a terrestrial(non-wireless) communication network 314 to enable communication withwired devices such as home and business telephones. The MSC 316comprises Simple Message System (SMS) functionality 318 to route SMSmessages between mobile devices. SMS messages may also be communicatedto and from a personal computer (PC) 328 or other Internet-coupleddevice via an SMS gateway 326 to the Internet 324. In other embodiments,EMS and/or MMS functionality could replace or supplement the SMSfunctionality 318. Not shown for clarity of explanation, but understoodby those skilled in the art, are other components included in a typicalMSC 316, such as a processor, memory, and various input/output devices.

[0035] A Home Location Registry (HLR) 320 stores network settingsassociated with the wireless device 310 and that determine the responseto incoming calls to the wireless device 310. If the wireless device 310is roaming on the network, such network settings may be stored in aVisitor Location Registry (VLR) 322.

[0036] In one embodiment, a new active profile is selected for thewireless device 310 at 350, resulting in a wireless signal to thenetwork at 352. At 354 the BSC 304 converts the wireless signal to asignal to the MSC 316. As a result, a reconfiguration of networksettings takes place at 356 (possibly, as shown, by changing settings inthe HLR 320 for the wireless device 310).

[0037]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a network including acts of a methodto respond to an incoming call. Again, the network and the actsillustrated are merely possible embodiments. At 360 the first wirelessdevice 312 initiates a call to a second wireless device 310. The BSC 302receives the call at 362 and forwards it to the MSC 316. At 364 the MSC316 reads the settings for the called party (device 310) from the HLR320 and determines that a message should be automatically returned tothe caller 312 in response to the call. The messaging technique could bevoice mail, SMS, EMS, MMS, or some other technique. At 366 the messageis returned from the HLR 320. At 368 the message is passed to the BSC302. At 370 the message is communicated wirelessly to the caller 312.

[0038] The response message may comprise information to the caller abouthow to leave a message for the called party. For example, the responsemessage could say, “I'm in a meeting at the moment. Please press one toleave a voice mail.”

[0039] When the caller is an Internet-coupled device, the responsemessage may at some point in the communication process be converted toan Internet-compatible format, such as into an email or instant message(IM).

[0040]FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network including acts of a methodto respond to an incoming call. Again, the network and the actsillustrated are merely possible embodiments. At 372 the first wirelessdevice 312 initiates a call to a second wireless device 310. The BSC 302receives the call at 374 and forwards it to the MSC 316. At 376 the MSC316 routes the call to the appropriate BSC 304 for the second wirelessdevice 310. At 378 the incoming call is transmitted to the secondwireless device 310. The active profile of the device 310 is read at380, and an automatic response message is determined at 382 according tothe active profile. In one embodiment, the response is an SMS message.The response technique could also be EMS, MMS, voice, or othertechnique. At 384-390, the message is communicated to the BSC 304,through the MSC 316, to the BSC 302, and finally to the caller 312.

[0041]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment 600 of a wirelesstelephone. A wireless communication interface 606 is coupled to a memory604 and a digital signal processor (DSP) 618. The wireless communicationinterface 606 converts signals of the DSP 618 and/or the memory 604 intowireless signals that may be transmitted via the antennae 602. Numerousother well-known elements of the telephone embodiment 600 have beenomitted for clarity.

[0042] The memory 604 comprises a plurality of profiles 608, includingan active profile 610. The memory 604 further comprises profileconfiguration logic 612 to affect the settings of the profiles 608, andresponse logic 614 to read the settings of the active profile 610 andrespond to incoming calls accordingly. Profile configuration logic 612and response logic 614 may comprise any set of instruction signalsand/or data that may be applied to/processed by the DSP 618 or otherprocessor of the telephone 600. Profile configuration logic 612 andresponse logic 614 may be embodied in software, hardware, firmware,and/or combinations thereof. The response logic 614 may provide forresponse by way of one of SMS, EMS, and MMS.

[0043] A display 616 may be employed to display the settings of theprofiles 608 so that a user of the telephone 600 may read or change thesettings of the profiles 608. An input device 622 such as a keypad,buttons, touchpad, or voice recognition interface allows the user toinput and/or select profile settings and select an active profile. Inone embodiment, the input device 622 may be integral with the display616 (e.g. touch or pressure-sensitive screen).

[0044]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method toautomatically respond to incoming calls. At 702 an incoming call eventoccurs. At 704 it is determined whether the active profile indicates anautomatic response to incoming calls. If not, the method concludes at706. Otherwise, a check is made at 708 as to whether the active profileindicates a particular response message for this caller. If so, themessage for the particular caller is transmitted to the caller at 710.If not, a general message is transmitted to the caller at 712. Invarious embodiments, the messaging technique is SMS, EMS, MMS, and/orvoice.

[0045] An electronic contact list and/or address book may be employed tofacilitate response with a caller-specific message. For example, in oneembodiment the caller's id (for example their telephone number and/or IPaddress) may be applied to locate an entry in an electronic address bookor contact list. The entry may comprise the response message to applyfor the particular caller.

[0046]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method toautomatically respond to incoming calls. At 802 an incoming call eventoccurs. At 804 it is determined whether the active profile indicates anautomatic response to incoming calls. If not, the method concludes at806. Otherwise, a check is made at 808 as to whether the active profileindicates a particular response message for the particular time of dayand/or location. If so, the message for the particular time of dayand/or location is transmitted to the caller at 810. If not, a generalmessage is transmitted to the caller at 812. Again, in variousembodiments, the messaging technique is SMS, EMS, MMS, and/or voice. Anelectronic calendar may be employed to facilitate response with adate/time/location-specific message. For example, in one embodiment acalendar is consulted to determine whether or not the called party isparticipating in a scheduled event (in a meeting, shopping, at a socialfunction, etc.). The calendar entry for the event may comprise theappropriate response message (e.g. “I'm in a meeting that will be endingat five o'clock. Please call back then.”).

[0047] Using profiles to determine the manner in which a wirelesstelephone or other wireless device responds to incoming calls may reducedistractions and interruptions from incoming calls in situations whereinterruption is undesirable. Profiles are convenient and well-understoodby large numbers of wireless telephone users. The settings of profilesmay include settings for defining a response message that is provided bythe wireless telephone or device, or by the network by which itcommunicates.

[0048] While certain features of the invention have been illustrated asdescribed herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes andequivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefor,to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all suchembodiments and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: storing a setting in aprofile of a wireless device to indicate an automatic message responseto incoming calls; setting the profile as an active profile; receivingan incoming call; automatically responding to the incoming call inaccordance with the setting.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: the profile comprising a response message; and responding tothe incoming call with the response message.
 3. The method of claim 1further comprising: the profile comprising a setting to indicate whethera response message is caller-specific.
 4. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: the profile comprising a setting to determine whether aresponse message is specific to at least one of a time, date, andlocation of the wireless device.
 5. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: responding to the call with a response message stored by anetwork by which the wireless device communicates.
 6. The method ofclaim 5 wherein the response message comprises: a voice mail prompt. 7.The method of claim 1 further comprising: a response messagecommunicated to a caller according to at least one of SMS, EMS, and MMS.8. A wireless device comprising: a processor; and a memory, the memorycomprising response logic which, when accessed by the processor, causesthe wireless device to automatically respond to incoming calls with aresponse message in a manner determined by at least one settings of anactive profile.
 9. The device of claim 8 wherein the active profilefurther comprises: the response message; and a setting to cause thewireless device to respond to incoming calls with the response message.10. The device of claim 8 wherein the active profile further comprises:a setting to determine whether the response message is caller-specific.11. The device of claim 8 wherein the active profile further comprises:a setting to determine whether the response message is specific to atleast one of a time, date, and location of the device.
 12. The device ofclaim 8 further comprising: logic to provide the response message by wayof at least one of SMS, EMS, and MMS.
 13. A network element comprising:a processor; and a memory, the memory comprising logic which, whenaccessed by the processor, causes the network element to respond tocalls directed to a wireless device with a response message in a mannerdetermined by an active profile for the wireless device.
 14. The networkelement of claim 13 further comprising: logic to alter a network settingfor the wireless device in response to at least one of selection of adifferent active profile for the wireless device and a change to asetting of the active profile for the wireless device.
 15. The networkelement of claim 14 wherein: the network setting determines the voicemail prompt provided to callers of the device.
 16. A method comprising:using a wireless device to select an active profile for the wirelessdevice; in response to selection of the active profile, signaling anetwork element; and configuring the network element according to atleast one setting of the active profile to automatically provide aresponse message to callers of the wireless device.
 17. The method ofclaim 16 further comprising: the network element providing to thecallers a voice mail prompt determined according to the at least onesetting of the active profile.
 18. The method of claim 16 furthercomprising: the response message provided according to at least one ofSMS, EMS, and MMS.
 19. A network element comprising: functionality toprovide at least one of SMS, EMS, and MMS messages; at least one networksetting for a wireless device that communicates by way of the networkelement, the network setting to cause the network to automaticallyrespond to callers of the wireless device with a response messageprovided by way of the functionality to provide messages; and logic toalter the network setting in accordance with changes to an activeprofile of the wireless device.